Sectionalism

"There is an intense excitement prevailing throughout our whole community
on the alarming state of affairs in Kansas; and daily, almost hourly, rumors are
spreading as to an anticipated collision of arms at the town of Laurence (sic).
I pray God that it may not come to this. For the first drop of blood shed there,
may, for ought of any one can see, be the opening of a fountain which can never
be sealed, but must continue to widen and deepen till it becomes a crimson
river." --- W.J. Davis, Lexington, Mo., Dec. 5, 1855

Lexington experienced the pangs of sectionalism long before the Civil War
erupted. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act introduced the idea of "popular
sovereignty" as the means of deciding whether slavery could be extended into the
western territories of the United States. The act permitted legal residents to
vote on whether they wished to live in a slave or free state; a concept first
tested in Kansas, Missouri's neighbor to the west. A contest resulted. Which
section of the country, slave or free, could send the greatest number of
emigrants to Kansas and control the outcome of the Kansas vote?

Through written histories, personal accounts and newspaper articles, the
students will be able to determine why sectionalism developed, explain how
Kansas and Missouri warfare influenced national policy, and understand how
sectionalism affected Lexington citizens.